PARIS (Bicycling.com) — Belgium is reaching fever pitch as tension builds before Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. The Ronde van Vlaanderen, as the native Flemish call it, is considered one of the hardest single-day races in the world. And for the Belgian fans, known for an unbridled passion for bike racing, the Ronde is nothing short of their own world championship. To win in Flanders is to ensure one’s name in the collective memory of a country fiercely divided by politics but united by cycling.

This year the anticipation mounted early as two of the sport’s greatest names—Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara and Belgium’s Tom Boonen—have both been riding at the top of their game.

They have won a combined three Tours of Flanders and five editions of Paris-Roubaix—the equally famed cobblestone Classic held in northern France one week later. Together, these racers form one of the great rivalries in the modern cycling. And in a sport mired by infighting and scandal, the Boonen-Cancellara battles remind fans what sport should be about.

Boonen possesses a lethal finishing sprint that makes him virtually unbeatable at the end of long, grueling races. Cancellara maintains the most powerful punch in the pack, capable of single-handedly cracking an entire peloton.

In many ways, their friendly rivalry defines sportsmanship, too. Not even Belgium’s cycling press, so adept at pitting rivals against each other, can find a spot of rancor between the two.

When Cancellara humiliated Boonen in the 2010 Tour of Flanders, dropping the Belgian while seated on his bike on the daunting Muur van Geraardsbergen, cynics actually suggested that Cancellara had hidden a motor in his bike. Boonen, of course, said nothing, perhaps knowing that he was simply not at his best. History, in fact, has shown that his 2010 defeat in Flanders was the start of two injury-riddled years. And Cancellara knows he will never need to complain that Boonen didn’t do his share of work in a breakaway. Boonen, unlike some sprinters, takes his pulls.

“The two have known each other since they were juniors,” said Hugo Coorevits, chief cycling journalist for the Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad. “It is really a rivalry of respect. In addition, Fabian has shown such a respect for these races, he even knows a couple of words of Flemish. As a result, all people can say is ‘Hats off!’”

Speaking of Cancellara before the Classics season, Boonen told Bicycling: “The thing with Fabian is that, when we are both in shape, we are pretty similar. The only difference is that he has a little more endurance and I am a little faster. I think what I would like to have from him, he would like to have from me. But they are both weapons.”

“Mostly though, I'm really happy that I have been fighting against a big rider like Fabian Cancellara my entire career. I consider it an honor actually, and I think we put on a good race. He never fights or complains. He is great to race against.”

Cancellara returns the compliments when speaking of Boonen. “Tom and myself are similar riders and we both aim for the same races,” Cancellara said to Bicycling on Tuesday.

“For the Classics, we are rivals and cycling fans around the world will remember our battles in Flanders and Roubaix. For me, having a rider like Tom next to me stimulates me to perform at my best.”

Throughout the early season, fans here have celebrated the return to form of local hero Boonen. With his injuries behind him, he came into 2012 promising “I have my mojo back!” And since the beginning of the season he has proved it, winning his fourth Tour of Qatar, not to mention scoring his 100th career victory on Stage 2 of Paris-Nice.

But when he won the E3 Harelbeke for a record-setting fifth time last Friday, and then Gent-Wevelgem for the third time on Sunday, Boonen served notice that he is as good as he has ever been.

“I'm glad to see Tom in the shape the people remember him from,” Cancellara said. “He's a classy guy and he has had more bad luck in the last years than people want to remember.”

Cancellara, too, has clearly been on top of his game, winning the Strade Bianche, a historic dirt-road race in Italy, as well as the Stage 7 time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico. And while he didn’t win Milan–San Remo, he was clearly the day’s strongman, finishing second after driving the winning breakaway in the final kilometers.

With two of the biggest names in racing flying before Flanders, this year’s northern Classics could be a true clash of the titans.

On paper, this year’s Tour of Flanders appears better suited to Cancellara. The 2012 course has been completely redesigned, finishing on a circuit that hits the grueling Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg climbs on no fewer than three times. The recent facelift strikes fears in the hearts of many of the best cyclists, but Cancellara knows that the repetition of such climbs so close to the finish only increases his chances to break free.

Boonen, however, still has the upper hand the following week in Paris-Roubaix, where he can count on his finishing sprint at the Roubaix velodrome.

In Belgium, betting on bicycle racing is common and bookies are giving Boonen and Cancellara nearly even odds before the start. But as the riders race up historic climbs like the Kwaremont and Paterberg for a second and third time, the numbers game will mean little.